Cage at Urban Lounge 06.26

Salt Lake City let the hate out on June 26. A wrecking crew of Timmy Wiggins, Chauncy, Hate Your Guts, and Cage came through the SLC area and got open at Urban Lounge. What started off as a beautiful warm summer’s Saturday night, quickly turned into one dark as hell, hate infested nightcap brought to you by Cardboard City and some pure East Coast hate music.

Starting off with a quick three banger set was Dusk One and DJ Honna of Mindstate. No one can get mad at a quickie on a Saturday. Mindstate for sure brought the passion. Playing Black Lungs off the free EP, even Dusk One was open and ripping the mic apart. Mindstate comes with serious passion. After the Mindstate set Timmy Wiggins took the stage. This dude is raw. Like rob you raw. At one point he actually said “If I don’t make my money tonight, I’m gonna rob one of ya’ll.” This was in fact my first time hearing about Wiggins. So I had not one clue as to any of his songs, kind of fun to hear something new to the ears. After the show I downloaded his “90’s Joint Mix Tape”hosted by DJ Chauncey and at the right price of free, it’s some real stick up kid talk. Totally worth the download. Not everyone seemed too energetic for Wiggins, it was a bit of a hard to earn crowd, but he still brought the raw energetic rhymes. One thing I have learned in my years of Hip Hop is everyone in CardboardCity is real raw. They are people with some serious tales to tell, and with Shia LaBeouf throwing up the Double CC’s after hosting SNL twice, it’s on for this well deserved clique.

Now this is what I found to be amazing, playing the same bill as all hip hop acts, Hate Your Guts really let the hate out. Before the show I had never even heard of HYG, but minutes into the first song I was hooked. So hooked, that seconds after their set I bought a CD. Described as “pure east coast hate,” I knew I had found a new favorite band. HYG is hard and fast at some points, and loud and brutal at others. HYG made the crowd listen, no one really had a choice. A well rested and hydrated crowd moved on up to the stage, some sooner then others, but half way through the set a gathering had occurred. When a crowd gathers for a band like HYG it’s only a matter of time before hardcore hate dancing ensues. Even with a predominantly hip hop crowd, signs of hardcore dancing were starting to show.HYG my have brought the hate out, but their guitar melted faces. This dude ripped. Real rock and roll style. It has been many years since I saw my last hardcore show, I am just glad I didn’t get roundhouse kicked in the chest or arm clubbed in the ear.

Cage is someone I am always excited to see play. He is not the type to jump all over stage, but without a doubt puts on a show and exudes energy. Cage shows always have at least one fan you notice that is just word for word with Cage. To the dude in the front playing karaoke with Cage, in the black with the WM (Weather Men) tattoo, impressive. Only when something like “Blood Boy” was played did you ease up. Not long ago I read a post on the internet, that Cage was planning on playing a lot of the older works and hearing “Blood Boy” got me to revisit the Def Jux X Adult Swim album “Definitive Swim,” another free download. Cage reached all the way back to the Leak Brothers days, which was amazing, but I felt like I was missing out without hearing Tameone. It wouldn’t be the Captain Bumout tour without playing “Captain Bumout”. For that 2 minutes and 55 seconds it was like a hip hop sing along. Something I missed the last time Cage came to the area was hearing “Ballad Of Worms” it’s a real square jolter of a song, twists your mind all up at times. The best part about a Cage show is you know if the crowd is right, there is always an encore. And not just a one song encore, then run stuff. A Cage encore is guaranteed for at least three songs. The show on June 26 was no exception.